THE JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICAL INSTITUTIONSPancreas Cancer Web

KEN J (Larry's son)

Larry, Ken, and Andy Joseph

Update on Larry and his family. May 22, 2002
My father Larry passed away gently at MD Anderson on April 26, 2002. He
died as he lived, making the most out of every moment, having survived 16
months after being diagnosed with mets to liver. Dad was fishing and
playing tennis every day on a trip to Florida visiting his brothers. In
the space of 3 days he was in immense pain, and we medivac-ed him to
Houston. CT revealed complete involvement of the spine, which accounted
for his pain. He passed five days later with his family surrounding him.
His memorial service, held at our home, was nothing short of perfect. We
miss Dad terribly, but feel grateful for the time we had with him, and
that once again, he did it 'his way.' The best of luck and fortune to
every one on this board. Thank you so much for your support, wisdom, and
the amazing resource of putting one's own situation in a broad
perspective. Onward.

With Love, Courage and Determination,

Ken Joseph
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My Father Larry (59) was diagnosed 1/01 with mets to liver. To Date he has
received Gemzar, Gemzar + Cisplatin, Docytaxol + cpt11, and now in March of
2002, Xeloda.

Dad grew up in Chicago but our family's spiritual home is in Northern
Wisconsin. He attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He
met my mother, Gail after a water ski show where he was one of the first
barefoot skiers in Wisconsin. They were married upon Dad's graduation. They
immediately left for a Peace Corp tour in Turkey. I was conceived on the way
home. My sister soon followed, and our brother came a few years later.
After working very hard for 15 years, and seeing his children become too
suburbanized, our family pulled up stakes, jumped in a 1978 Ford Van, and
drove through Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize for a year. We ended up in Santa
Fe, enchanted by the light, the culture, the mountains, and cobalt blue
skies. We've been here ever since. Dad took up painting, and is now hung in
the Mayans Gallery on the famous Canyon Road. After returning from college
(also Penn), Dad taught me the ropes and I am now in business with my
brother. Dad's spent much of the last 10 years travelling with his current
wife, Babette. They have a 1978 Puegot in Europe (Greece now I think), and a
1982 Landcruncher in Peru. Every 6 months they'd pick one of the cars up and
drive for 6 weeks, immersing themselves in culture, scenery and painting.

Dad's
life is characterized by a passion for living, giving deeply of himself
to friends and family, and a strong emphasis on volunteering his time to
worthy causes inspired by being one of 'Kennedy's Kids' in the Peace Corps.

This
disease caught us totally by surprise, just at the time when we were
looking forward to many many years of playing with his 5 -1/2 (one's in the
oven) grandchildren. Feel free to visit his website and send him a note of
support at www.larryproject.org

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